Andrea Leadsom doesn't hire men to look after her children because they might be paedophiles

Andrea Leadsom is finding out the hard way that life in the
public eye is much harsher as a high-profile politician than a
little-known MP.

Last week, the newly-appointed environment secretary made the
headlines for all the wrong reasons during the Conservative Party
leadership contest, for telling The Times newspaper that being a
mother gave her more of a "stake" in the country's future than
Theresa May.

Leadsom and May were set to do battle to become David Cameron's
successor until the former pulled out of the race on Monday,
meaning May automatically became the Tory leader and prime
minister.

Leadsom — who was appointed to the cabinet by May on Thursday —
faces a new headache after another part of her interview with the Times was
published in early hours of Friday morning, in which she
claims she doesn't hire male nannies to look after her children
in case they are paedophiles.

“As an employer we’re not — let’s face it — most of us don’t
employ men as nannies, most of us don’t. Now you can call that
sexist, I call that cautious and very sensible when you look at
the stats. Your odds are stacked against you if you employ a man.
We know paedophiles are attracted to working with children. I’m
sorry but they’re the facts.”

Leadsom's new position as Secretary of State for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs was a surprise before this latest
revelation. In her old job, as an energy minister, the MP
once asked "is
climate change real?" She also supports repealing the
national ban on fox hunting — a highly contentious issue in the
UK. An unnamed source at the civil service told the Huffington
Post's Paul Waugh "the new PM is basically trolling the civil
service with these appointments," according to the daily email
Waugh sends to subscribers.

Labour's Lucy Powell, who recently resigned from her shadow
Education Secretary role, told The Times: “These comments show an
enormous lack of judgment on Andrea’s part."

"She should know as well as I know that not only are men just as
capable of doing childcare jobs but we should want to encourage
more men into those jobs as they can bring other benefits.”

A spokesperson for Leadsom told Business Insider in an
email: “Andrea Leadsom had a male nanny
for five years, and was not saying that men are unsuitable as
nannies."